BMW concedes electric cars are the future.

Shift to electric cars 'Irreversible'

BMW concedes electric cars are the future.

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Shift to electric cars 'Irreversible'

13 Sep 2017Toby Hagon

Electric cars are coming soon – in big numbers.

That’s the prediction of the man in charge of BMW’s i sub-brand and the e-Mobility vehicles that include plug-in hybrids.

“We believe it’s irreversible, electrification will come, there’s no doubt,” says Dirk Arnold, who was on hand at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show to reveal the sleek BMW i Vision Dynamics concept car that was the centrepiece of the brand’s expansive hall.

“We expect … for the BMW Group that we will see roughly around 2025 20 percent of new car sales will be electric cars.”

The thing Arnold is less decisive on is when traditional petrol and diesel engines will succumb to the pressure of batteries and electric motors.

“No one really knows,” said Arnold. “There’s no way back, it will come.”

One of the core cars in BMW’s electric expansion is the i Vision Dynamics, a concept expected to arrive in showrooms around 2020, possibly called i5.

The sleek concept appears to have the Tesla Model S in its crosshairs.

As well as promising a driving range of 600km it can accelerate to 100km/h in less than four seconds in what is a spacious four-door.

It will be one of 12 pure electric cars BMW will offer by 2025.

Arnold says over the next few year there will at least one electric vehicle each yeah.

Another includes the electric-only BMW X3, a car that will get some unique design cues to separate it from the regular X3s.

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BMW is very clearly switching its public message to electric vehicles, something that ramped up at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show.

As well as the i Vision Dynamics concept, the brand showed off a fleet of plug-in electric vehicles – which have an electric motor and batteries as well as a regular petrol engine – and even its electric motorbikes.

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Drive Comments

Spazzatura Falo | 13 Sep 2017 20:26

It may have taken the virtual prohibition of diesel vehicles throughout Europe to do it, but it seems Toby VW Diesels Forever Hagon has seen some kind of light. What's next I wonder, a passing concern for build quality? We dare to dream!

ibast | 14 Sep 2017 04:14

And in other news some CEO tells anyone who will listen why he's made a business decision . . . .

Peter Saunders{ | 14 Sep 2017 21:17

Pure electric vehicles will always be a simpler concept to sell in Europe, where normal trips are relatively short. We face battery capacity problems here, due to the vastness of rural areas and the outback.

Born again greenie | 14 Sep 2017 22:36

If BMW don't have all their offerings electric by 2025, they will be left behind. Range is not an issue even today. Electricity exists everywhere, not just in Petrol stations. This transition is happening so fast now that the Model 3 is rolling out, I would not buy a non electric car, even today. Of course I have had the privilege of driving a model S for some time, so I am speaking from experience. There is nothing like it

DJM61 | 29 Sep 2017 02:17

Can an EV fill up in under 5 minutes? With super capacitors it would be possible. Batteries not likely.